coming tomorrow we'll talk to george zimmerman's defense attorney mark o mara and congressman aaron schock and steve israel, budget cuts day two, we're not calling it the cliff anymore but technically in two days we head over that cliff. "cnn newsroom" with carol costello begins right now. i'll see everybody back here tomorrow morning for "starting point." have a great day. breaking news, a balloon in

cairo explodes and plummets thousands of feet. also a blizzard for the history books. >> this one could be more treacherous to travel in. >> snow falling horizontally in middle america this morning. >> we declared a state of emergency for kansas city, missouri. >> plus marijuana nation. >> marijuana cultivation, distribution and consumption is going to happen with or without their acceptance. the choice that we have to make is whether we want to regulate and tax it. >> reporter: and tax it they will. some dispensaries could see tax rates as high as 75%. plus this. a year after the shooting death of trayvon martin, artist, activist chuck dee joins to us talk about his new project "beyond trayvon." you're live in the "cnn newsroom."

and good morning, thank you so much for being with me. i'm carol costello. we begin this morning with what's being called the deadliest hot air balloon accident in the world in at least 20 years. 14 tourists killed today when a balloon exploded in the southern egyptian city of luxor. it's the site of some of egypt's most famous ruins. these were shot just before the explosion. rez reza sayah joins us this morning. >> reporter: this hot air balloon dropped 1,000 feet, the empire state building is a little more than 1,200 feet so this was a lengthy drop, officials say at least 19 people were killed, this incident happening in the city of luxor in southern egypt, the site of some of the most famous ancient ruins. officials saying 21 people were on board, almost all of them with the exception of the pilot

were tourists, among them hong kong nationals, japanese nationals, british, the french. the operator of this hot air balloon was sky cruise. obviously there's going to be a lot of questions asked of the owner of the company. the hot air balloon plummeted when a flammable gas cylinder on board exploded. witnesses say some of the tourists actually jumped out of the hot air balloon while it was falling, incredibly horrifying incident, investigation is on the way, officials have banned all hot air balloon flights until further notice. >> reza sayah reporting live from cairo. let's turn our attention to the central part of our own country. crippling historic blizzard, here is a view of a truck driver trapped on interstate 40 near groom, texas, he was stranded nine hours in what he calls the worst snowstorm he's ever seen.

heavy snow, fierce winds brought traffic to a standstill in lubbock. many drivers wound up in ditches when they could not see the road. some parts of the state have seen as much as 19 inches of snow. from texas to illinois the misery is measured in feet, winds whipping up wicked snow drifts. in oklahoma firefighters bogged down on a four-foot drift and a snowplow sent to free them got stuck, too. we are covering it all. cnn's erin mcpike is in kansas city, missouri, and meteorologist jennifer delgado is tracking the storm in our weather center. let's begin with erin in the nation's heartland, good morning, erin, it looks terrible. >> reporter: good morning, carol. we're getting about two inches of snow an hour, but what i want to tell you are the power outages. we talked to kansas city power and light all morning and the power outages have doubled and tripled since we first started talking to them, up to 35,000 power outages just in the kansas

city metro area. there are also about 10,000 power outages in texas and another 10,000 or so in oklahoma. that's a problem for those getting heat so that's something to watch out for. also around me it's getting harder to see if you can look a little bit behind me here you don't see very many cars on the road. however the cars that we have seen have gotten stuck, one of them rolled down the hill so it is very dangerous. we also know from kansas governor sam brownback that there was a second death in this storm reported last night. so dangerous storm, carol. >> hopefully people are staying off the roads today. thanks so much, erin. let's get the latest on the storm and where it's heading. meteorologist jennifer delgado is here to tell us that. >> erin looked kind of miserable outside. with the winds blowing around in some locations up to 30 miles per hour, visibility is going to be compromised at times. you can see on the radar where

the snow is starting to taper off in the western part of kansas city. we'll pick up another four and five inches of snowfall for st. louis, southern parts of missouri and we are going to see some of that wrapping around about an inch of snow for st. louis and chicago, you're going to start to see a mix arriving around the midday hour arriving at noon. look at the winds for kansas city 33, that's why erin was dealing with the windy conditions out there and the snow, with the winds, talking 8 to 12 inches. this is plain miserable as well as dangerous along the northern parts of missouri, you can see for areas including iowa we're going to see the heaviest amount of snowfall for chicago, three to six inches but we're not just talking snow here. we're talking about rain, flooding, as well as severe weather. we have a tornado watch in place across parts of florida, that is in effect until 3:00 and this whole area potentially we could see one to two inches of rain, here is the area we're looking at for potentially the severe storms, of course that rain has to go somewhere and it's going to move up towards the east

coast and that means rainy conditions with a little bit of snow and wintry mix in the higher elevations. i'm happy to be in the studio but i'd like to see a blizzard from time to time, visit them and then come home. >> i'll take that, thank you. the company laying a cable just before an explosion last week in kansas city did not have an excavation permit and had hit a two inch gas line at j.j.'s restaurant. kansas city officials don't know what ignited the leaking gas. the blast killed one person and injured 15 others. "the new york times" says several republican leaders signed a legal brief supporting same-sex marriage they include jon huntsman, two members of congress and meg whitman, who ran for california governor. the brief asked the supreme court to strike down a california initiative barring same-sex marriages in similar bans. new jersey governor chris christie gets snubbed by the

political conservative action conference. someone says he was not invited to attend or speak. owe fsfficially cpac is finaliz its schedule. republicans are warning lawmakers brace for the spending cuts to go in on friday. here's what's set to kick in, a total of $85 billion slashed automatically across the board from the federal budget. that adds up to 9% of nondefense spending and 13% of the pentagon's budget over the next seven months. are you feeling it yet? here's what's not being targeted, social security and medicare, medicaid and food stamps and military personnel and the veterans administration, clearly frustration is building against congress and the white house. >> i think it's time for the president to show leadership. the reality is he's been engaged in almost non-stop campaigning

trying to scare the american people, trying to scare now states and others. >> -- has there ever been more of a time when government was more intrusive than it is today and to the point it is really psychotic. something's wrong. my kids could go find $83 billion out of a $4 trillion budget. this is not rocket science. what this is, is an inability to want to get to work. no one should be going home. no one should be playing golf, no one should be taking vacations. what they need to do is do what these governors do every day. we stay well we get it done. >> president obama will hear some of that anger firsthand when he visited the hampton roads region of virginia. defense spending makes up nearly half the region's economy and as we saw from a republican blitz there yesterday makes it fertile ground for the blame game. here's dan lothian. >> reporter: from the welders to sheet metal workers,

washington's inability to avert deep cuts has left them concerned about their futures. >> everybody's talking about it. everybody's worried. >> reporter: last week the military notified bae that work on 13 ships at several of its sites would have to stop if a deal wasn't struck. >> if it goes fully and we run completely out of work there will be a skeletal crew in here just to keep the plant up and running. >> reporter: this air of uncertainty is why some members of virginia's congressional delegation took part in a town hall meeting in newport news monday. where they got an earful from residents. >> i've given my personal salary into my business because i love my business and you guys i think need to do the same thing. >> this is not a republican issue. it's not a democratic issue. it's a national issue. it's our boys, our girls, our families. >> reporter: president obama is painting a grim picture to put pressure on congress. this shipyard is part of his mosaic. >> these cuts do not have to happen.

congress can turn them off any time with just a little bit of compromise. >> reporter: but some republicans aren't buying it. >> i think that the president needs to stop trying to scare the american people. >> reporter: and the town hall meeting lawmakers all convinced that cuts will happen were blaming the president. >> we welcome him to newport shipbuilding and hope he brings with him a definitive proposal with all the entourage he'll have with him. >> reporter: it's not just those civilian defense workers who are concerned here in the state. there are a lot of small business owners who are worried if people are furloughed, that will mean fewer k eer customers to them so we expect the president to address the broad impact of those cuts but also we expect the president to go after republicans accusing them of protecting loopholes that protect the wealthy and big companies. >> dan lothian reporting live this morning. we want to get back to the horrifying hot air balloon crash in luxor, egypt.

18 people have been killed. joining me is freelance photographer christopher michael, he was in another balloon a short distance away when he heard an explosion. christopher, welcome. >> thank you. >> so you were up in thi hot air balloon taking pictures and just describe to us what you heard. >> so it was an early smoky and dark morning right off the city of luxor, about 45 minutes into the flight, about 50 feet above the ground we prepared to land, heard the explosion behind us. i looked back, saw a lot of smoke. i first saw it was part of a sugar cane burning and they burn cane this time of the year here and as soon as our balloon sat down i could see the pilot saying this is the first time this has happened in a long, long time and they knew there was a problem. sirens started to be heard and people started to arrive and then the tragedy unfolded for

all of us. >> when the pilot of your balloon said that, christopher, did you know what he meant? >> well, i had assumed then there had been an accident on the balloon. i don't think anyone had a sense of how horrible it would turn out to be. >> before you boarded the balloon to take that flight against the beautiful sites in egypt was there any, did they teach you anything about safety measures or things like that? >> that's an excellent question. i had just done a similar thing in myanmar over the city of bergan for a photo shoot and i was incredibly impressed by the professionalism of the pilot, great safety briefing, great condition of the balloon. none of that was here, no safety briefing, the balloon looked like it was in just okay condition. i'm feeling very safe in egypt but it was a marked difference from the professionalism i saw with the british and myanmar. >> once your balloon landed, were you able to see anything or find out more about what

happened? >> we could hear sirens and we could hear cars and emergency vehicles approaching for the next hour, each blon lands in their own air. there is a team that follows the balloons around. the other balloon landed in a different aarea. we saw a little bit of smoke and we saw more and more from the people there. >> i suspect you're feeling really lucky today. >> well i'm feeling lucky but i have to tell you the juxtaposition of the great beauty and horrible tragedy, it's really shocking and all of us feel terrible. >> you're right, christopher michel, thank you for sharing your story this morning, we appreciate it. >> thank you. paying the cost to sell marijuana, why businesses doing it legally for medicinal purposes are getting slammed by very, very high taxes. i know what you're thinking...

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home prices rose more than 7% last year, according to new numbers this morning by case-schiller. christine romans will tell us what this means, likely mean good news for the markets already poised to open higher this morning after the dow saw its worst loss of the year yesterday. the california coast guard searching this morning for a family missing at sea since sunday. couple and two children reportedly abandoned ship off monterey after sending a distress call that their boat was taking on water, the boat was similar to the one in the pictures. the u.s. census will stop using the word "negro" in its surveys. most people no longer identify with the term and find it quite offensive. the bureau will use black or african-american. gm will sell 4g at&t wireless connections next year on most of its 2015 models. gm hopes the high speed connection will offer drivers new services, the deal ends a

long relationship gm had with verizon. today marks one year since trayvon martin was killed, and since then his parents have gone from mourners to activists, speaking out against gun violence in america. cnn's piers morgan asked them about a possible result in the upcoming trial of george zimmerman who has been charged with killing their son. >> are you ready to let justice take its course, however that turns out, in other words if at the end of this trial, george zimmerman is exonerated of illegally killing your son, would you be prepared to publicly accept that verdict? >> well, that's something that we've always asked for. we've always asked for an arrest, we've always asked for just for it to come to a trial. we just want to have the trial and let the jury decide and whatever decision comes out of that we're going to accept that. we may not like it but we're going to accept it. >> hundreds of letters and

e-mails sent to george zimmerman have now been released and they reveal some surprises. cnn's david mattingly has this exclusive report. >> reporter: until now, they have been the silent opinions, for and against, expressed directly to george zimmerman. the hundreds of cards, letters and e-mail that only now we are allowed to see. as expected we find words of encouragement to zimmerman and harsh condemnation, but in those hundreds of personal and often passionate notes we were able to look a little deeper, to look for trends, and to possibly see what is driving so many deeply held opinions, and immediately there were some surprises. the accusations of race i. and profiling that dominated demonstrations many years ago are not so prevalent in notes written to zimmerman, of the e-mail condemning his actions

few call him a racist, only 5% accuse him of profiling. the most common factor and opinions against george zimmerman may have its roots right here, that mental image of trayvon martin buying a pack of skittles and a can of iced tea at this convenience store before walking home to watch a basketball game. the one thing zimmerman critics mention most is trayvon martin's age. 41% in fact condemning zimmerman's actions, ex-plplici mention trayvon martin's youth, some calling him a 17-year-old, a teenager, a young man but most may have formed opinions based on the younger photos of martin publicized early in the case, calling martin a boy, a kid, a child, and many of the people writing notes of support to george zimmerman seem to be reacting to what they saw playing out right here in the streets of sanford, florida.

nearly a quarter of the people supporting zimmerman objected to race being an issue in this case. some blame the media. others blame leaders of the protests. some went even further to suggest a conspiracy at work or that zimmerman was himself a victim of racism. few made comments offering a possible glimpse into a racial divide, and racially motivated resentment. and there were extreme points of view on both sides, just looking at the big stack of e-mail to george zimmerman of the people who were condemning his actions, between 15% and 20%, carol, were wishing him bodily harm or death, a lot of those e-mail contains way too much profanity obviously to show you here. >> wow. fascinating story, david

mattingly reporting live from florida this morning and by the way, artists and activist chuck dee from public enemy has spoken out about the trayvon martin case through his music and visual art. >> trayvon martin was a young black man that was brutally murdered and right now it's a big debate, whether was it law or was it the law as usual? "beyond trayvon" is the title that the picture kind of speaks a million words but the two words is powerful in itself. i'm very happy that the art depiction was beyond expectations. >> chuck d. and his wife will join us life in our next half hour. talk back question today, who do you believe when it comes to forced budget cuts?

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like a ping-pong game with no winner. the more you watch the more you risk whiplash. >> i think it's time for the president to show leadership. the reality is he's been engaged in almost nonstop campaigning trying to scare the american people trying to scare states and others. >> that's republican governor bobby jindal insisting the president is yelling fire in a crowded theater. according to house majority whip kevin mccarthy it won't break us if congress kicks back, comes to no deal and allows the meat axe to fall. >> the only thing catastrophic that it will be is shocking that we kept our word in washington, that we said we'd do this 18 months ago but the president wanted to change the plan of what he said he agreed to and that we followed through. maybe that would be catastrophic people would say washington kept their word. >> the democrats paint a different picture, janet napolitano the homeland security secretary says we can expect longer lines at airports and

border security it will be affected too and not in a good way. >> threats from terrorism and the need to respond and recover from natural disasters do not diminish because of budget cuts. even in the current fiscal climate, we do not have the luxury of making significant reductions to a capabilities without significant impacts. >> the problem is, since democrats are saying one thing and republicans another, it's difficult to know what's true, so here's what we do know, the non-partisan congressional office says if the meat axe falls with these across the board cuts to the tune of $85 billion, it will cost us 750,000 jobs and slow the economy and that cannot be good. so talk back, who do you believe when it comes to forced budget cuts? fa fa facebook.com/carolcnn.

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political buzz is your rapidfire look at the best political topics of the day. three topics, 30 seconds on the clock. cnn political analyst roland martin and amy kremer, chairwoman of the tea party express. one year ago today two strangers meet for the first and only time, an unarmed black teenager named trayvon martin and george zimmerman a white neighborhood watch volunteer patrolling with a gun. martin, just 17, died that night, sparking a debate over guns and race in america. the question trayvon martin one year later what have you learned. roland you wrote a piece entitled request "trayvon martin did not die in vain" writing "even though the trial of zimmerman won't take place until june, almost 16 months after the fatal shooting of trayvon a lot

of things have changed are in the process of being debated." what are some of those things? >> first thing a lot of us had no idea about stand your ground law and how they were significant across the country. the american legislative exchange counsel a group we learned as a result of this they were actually behind these kinds of laws, behind voter i.d. laws and after change.org lost, the companies pulled back and said we're going to stop doing some of these different things. we also of course remember at the department of justice they're investigating the sanford police department because of their actions as well, it is also caused people to recognize that they have to pay attention to local races like district attorney, and prosecutor, those kind of races and local judges because that's where a lot of the decisions were made. remember the seminole county d.a. close not to initially charge george zimmerman so i think a number of things have happened since the last year that have been productive and positive. >> and amy what do you think has changed, if anything?

>> well i think if anything, carol, we've learned that we need to let the court system work and let justice be served. too many times there is so much commentary and the media is involved and we saw reports come out from another network that were edited and it wasn't the full and accurate report and so people jump to conclusions. we need to let this, the court system work and let justice be served and you know, since then unfortunately we've had other incidents with guns and we know that's an issue that's going on right now and being debated in our society so we're going to have to wait and see where that takes us. >> except one thing, amy, the reason we are even at this point now is because there were people on social media, folks in media, bloggers, who are pushing this case. remember, zimmerman wasn't even arrested. the family said at least let's have a collection of evidence so it was the media pressure. it was the pressure of the people in the streets, that even got us to this point. the parents simply said let's have a day in court, that's an

important distinction because without out all of that, we wouldn't be where we are today. >> roland you make a good point because social media has become such an integral part of our lives and it pushes a lot of things now. we've talked about that before on air, so yes, it has played a part in it, but you know what? i mean we go back to look at the violence in chicago, look at these other cities where people are being murdered and it's not -- nobody's even really talking about it until after newtown. >> folks like me have been. >> i commend you to are that because it's really, really important. when you have 6-month-old or younger infants being murdered in cars in chicago and nobody's talking about it, that is just a shame. i mean we seriously have a problem and i've said before on air that i think it has to do with so much violence in movies and video games and other aspects of our lives. but look, i think the courts need to work and let justice be served here. >> we're going to wrap up this question because we'll talk more about this with chuck d coming

up in seven minutes. the next question, three days and counting until the forced spending cuts kick in. president obama warning politicians at all levels of dire consequences and that has louisiana's governor bobby jindal and others crying foul. >> i think it's time for the president to show leadership, the reality is he's been engaged in almost nonstop campaigning, trying to scare the american people, trying to scare now states and others. >> critics acues the president of exaggerating the effects of the cuts which are across the board and will hit everything from the military to early childhood education. so our question, who do you believe when it comes to forced spending cuts. amy? >> look, carol, you can't blame this all on the president. yes the idea did originate in the white house but both houses, both chambers voted for it, the house and the senate. they're all to blame. the reason they had this they couldn't agree on spending cuts in august of 2011 over the debt

ceiling. the bottom line is we cannot continue to spend money the way that we're spending it. we have to rein in the spending and when you talk about cutting essentially $44 billion from the budget just this year alone the rest, the remainder of it is going to be in future years, 44 billion is nothing when you're spending $3.6 trillion a year. >> okay, got to get to roland. roland? >> i'm sick of all of them. i'm sick of the republicans and democrats. again, if you voted for sequestration, if you signed it into law, you are culpable, and so when bobby jindal talks about leadership from the president, yeah, we need more leadership but also why did congress go on recess? how can you have this coming down the pipe and you decide to go on recess? the president should have used constitutional authority and said bring your butts back to washington, boehner, mcconnell, reid, pelosi, cantor, clyburn, you come with me at camp david and figure this out over the next three or four days but i'm

sick of all this whining and complaining. get to work! >> i think could you both agree on that. >> i agree. >> wow! roland martin and amy kremer, thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. >> thanks a bunch. we've been talking about this, his killing became a rallying cry with supporters calling for justice for trayvon martin. year later what's changed? what have we learned? i'll talk about it with activists and pioneer rap artist chuck d. gy not moving forward is moving backward. [ engine turns over, tires squeal ] and you'll find advanced safety technology like an available heads-up display on the 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back.

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40 pins past the hour. the winter blizzard is blasting its way across the plains, expected to drop two more feet of snow, icy highways in kansas blamed for two deaths now, another death happened in woodward, oklahoma, after a roof collapse. thousands of customers are reporting power outages in missouri and oklahoma and officials are asking you to be extra careful and stay off the road. a memorial service for mindy mccready will be held in mrt fires, florida. she was found dead after apparently committing suicide at her arkansas home. we're back in a moment. i love to eat. i love hanging out with my friends.

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today marks one year since the death of florida teenager trayvon martin. his death sparked protest rallies and cries of injustice after his shooter, george zimmerman, went for weeks without being arrested. zimmerman says he shot the unarmed 17-year-old in self-defense. later today trayvon's parents plan to mark the anniversary of his death by attending a candlelight vigil in new york. his mother talked with soledad o'brien just a few, actually a half hour ago. >> we're doing this for trayvon but this also, we need to also do this so that we can help other kids because we have seen since this happened last february to trayvon that other kids, other teenagers have been shot and killed, you know, through senseless gun violence and we just feel like we need to do something about it as parents. >> race has figured prominently into the case with the pioneering rap group public enemy penning a song about it on

their latest album, listen. ♪ ♪ >> co-founder and front man of public enemy chuck d and his wife teresa johnson join me from santa barbara, california. welcome to you both. >> thank you. thank you for having us. >> thank you for being here. we appreciate it. chuck i'll ask you the first question. not only did your group perform a song about the case you've also released artwork surrounding it. how did that come about? >> a bunch of artists in chicago also wanted to be able to connect their art to my art and i have a graphic art background,

and my whole point of view has always been able to have some kind of social commentary and put it through music and art and get the point across to people in a multidimensional way. so we combined and continue to make statements beyond trayvon which speaks for all those youth out there who are now being victims, for the last 25 to 30 years of this senseless violence and it's not the young people's fault, which is maybe a collapsing of an infrastructure society that we need to pay attention to. >> we've been asking a lot of people what did we learn from the martin case? it's tough to answer because the case polarized the nation among racial and political lines. do you see a middle ground here? >> i think there's two things that are really important to come away from this with, and

one is that we need to work really hard to understand what trayvon martin's death represents. so there's that, but then there's also the fact that we need to work very hard to make him much more than a symbol, because there's so much that we need to do, there's so much in the way of race and racial representation that needs to happen. zimmerman is not somebody who exists in a vacuum. he's somebody who is part of a society that persistently gives young people messages about the danger that black men pose to the united states and to the whole world and so we have to look at that in a context that needs a lot of work. >> and chuck d, george zimmerman has become a symbol to a lot of people to many in america and they would say let's let the trial play out first because we make trayvon martin an innocent victim in all of this. >> i don't know, we should know better than that, because people are still mad at o.j. simpson, so let the trial play out, what does that mean?

>> well, but a lot of people believed o.j. simpson is guilty, but i think what they're saying is -- >> and that trial played out, didn't it, so i mean, i'm pretty much not the one to be told that a trial is going to make everybody feel straight and clear. >> i can understand it when you say it that way, but i think that what they're saying is like we were quick to make a judgment on both sides of the issue when this originally went down and maybe it's time to step back, let all the facts come in, and then make a decision. >> i don't know. i don't think we're quick to make a judgment. i think the emotion happened to be in step and in line with what's been happening the last umpteen amount of years with black youth, also being disconnected from the tools that they need, just to be able to live like all the other youth, and you see now through culture and all these other areas that are bombarding black youth

without the tools it's actually like life has almost imitated art but who is behind the art? who is behind the whole social structure? and so these tools are very, you know, necessary, i've always felt for young black youth, as far as and especially young black men to be able to look at themselves and figure out how to survive here in america. it's important and they're just not there or they're not being emphasized. that's my personal point of view. >> gaye going back to the question what have we've learned, some say what we've learned is identity is everything in this country. would it have been different had trayvon martin been white and wearing a hoodie, if zimmerman had not been a white hispanic, would he have been labeled a white conservative vigilante? >> i think that much has been made of zimmerman being latino, but latino, but again, it comes down to not whether or not zimmer map is racist or being if i might just kind of add to the last answer, that in terms of letting the

trial play out, we're talking about a gloun armed man who shot an unarmed child. ingletting the trial play out is one thing, but people's sense of justice and scale is another. i do think that zimmerman is easy for us to focus our attention on as whether or not he was racest or not, but that takes us away from the real issue. and that is what is it about a young black boy with a hoodie on that makes everybody feel threatened. and it's not something -- it's easy for us to get caught up in the details of did the skittles look like a gun, was he imposing. but the fact remains that every message in our society tells us that a figure like that is a threatening one if he's black. because even though that rhera l

rivera apologized, there were so many circulated images after that and nobody ever assigns that kind of danger to him or justin timberlake. but when somebody like trayvon martin, yes, a child, yes absolutely it had to do with race. if he hadn't have been black, i don't think he would have had that problem. >> that's why coming on a news program even early in the morning like this is necessary because of all the poison that's been spewed for the past year about what america thinks. but the obvious point is that this young man lost his life from an unjust situation. and it needs to be like hammered home. that's bottom line. >> thank you both for sharing your insight this morning. on to our talk back

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who go you believe when if comes to forced budget cutses? we got hundreds and hundreds of responses. val, naively some believe it is their party only. it's both sides whether they like it or not. that's politicking, folks. will and i can't believe i'm saying this, but i believe the republicans. that being said, democrats and republicans need to work together on this. grow up and pay the bills. it is best for the country. this from richard, both sides share some of the blame, but the onus falls on the gop.

being a senior citizen on social security and medicare, i realize we all should expect to share the burden. and brian, republicans have no objective except stopping the president while whining about his leadership. and from donald, not congress. the chief executive or the media. other than that, i'm open minded. keep the conversation going. facebook.com/carolcnn or tweet me@ka me@carol cnn. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is! cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. if youthen this willbrids arbe a nice surprise.

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i te'o finally took the field at the combine and views were less than impressive. >> right, carol. you know the girlfriend, that was a hoax, but the results were all too real for manti te'o at the combine in indianapolis where we find that he is actually slower and smaller than expected. it went like this as te'o, it doesn't mean he can't play at the nfl level, but a combined 40-yard dash, 4.82 seconds, 20th of 26th. generally unimpressive by pro football standards. he also lost weight. he's down to 241. not big for inside linebacker, but the projection is he could be a top 20 pick in the april draft. and talk about taking one for the team, new england patriot quarterback tom brady taking a pay cut to help out his team's salary cap according to peter

king. the new contract extension for him said to be worth 27 million over three years and brady will be 40 when his deal is over. but the newspapers putting them in perspective, the patriots were on the hook for brady for $43.6 million until they reworked the deal. this will allow new england much more flexibility in building their team for the future. so a generous move. and finally. ashley arno did an amazing somersault half court shot during a time-out for her college in mississippi. since she's such a big star now, it would seem to make sense that she practice for the harlem globe trot thors, trying to teach them the trick shot. and they got it sort of. putting their own spin on it. but that's pretty impressive in its own right. for all the entertaining sports news including more on brady's new contract, and the patriots future, go to bleacherreport.com. you can to that kind of flip

entering the studio, i know. >> every day. and you're always amazed that i can do that sort of thing. >> always impressive. >> thanks, vince. the next hour of cnn newsroom starts now. happening now in the newsroom, from capitol hill to your local diner, how forced spending cuts in washington could have a direct impact on the price you pay for groceries and your next meal out. plus a blizzard for the history books. >> this one could be much more treacherous. >> snow falling horizontally if middle america this morning. and fresh off his win, we're talking live to jimmie johnson about his win, the accident that injured dozens, and danica patri patrick's star power. >> nascar is off to an amazing

start this year. good morning. thank you so much for being with us. three days and counting until forced spending cuts are due to kick in. right now john boehner is giving some remarks. let's listen. >> mf-traveling all over the country and today going down to newport news to use our military it's time to focus on the problem and that is spending.

they knew this was looming. so for 16 months, the president's been traveling all over the country holding rallies instead of sitting down with senate leaders in order to try to forge an agreement in order to move the bill. we have moved the bill in the house twice. we radio not have to move a third bill before the senate gets off their ass and begins to do something. >> good morning. as speaker said, the president will be it newport news, virginia. i'm concerned about families in the commonwealth. i'm concerned because their concern about the future and uncertainty which looms because of this sequester. the president has said, well, he wants to compromise but there's been four years of spending increases and now the president says we can't have any progress on the sequester unless we get the second tax hike in eight

weeks. nep he says your choice is taking criminal -- letting criminals out of jails and on to the streets or give me a tax increase. that's not compromise. that's a false choice. we have tried tobly forward measures that lish reform and cut spending. we've even taken things that the president had in his very own budget to say please join us and he won't accept those proposals. it's time to get this resolved for the american people.

dana bash is with us and he'll be talking about how the sequester will affect the economy. also we'll take a look at how the forced spending cuts will impact every day americans. today we're talking about the effect on small restaurant owners and possible rise on food prices. tom vilsack is warning it it could amount to less food being available. but a short am of chicken, egg, pork, beef. and he says prices for those items could increase. jennifer levinson owns two small restaurants here in atlanta. thank you so much for joining us. you heard what they said. what went through your mind? >> it's across the board.

everything is on the rise. and definitely people in small businesslike myself, i can see right away. >> when you hear politicians talking this way, saying the other side isn't doing anything, doesn't it drive you insane? >> it drives me totally insane. when you really start to look at what's going to be cut like food inspection services that's scary. you might be forced to raise your prices, but i also have to say i think it's a great educational opportunity for people to learn about where their food comes om. >> such a glass half full look. >> that's right.

>> so because inspectors might be furloughed, that means there might not be enough beef to provide in your restaurant and eventually you'll have to pass the price on to consumers. >> and you'll have to buy more expensive product and it is going to have to be passed on sooner rather than later. >> but when you hear politicians say the forced spending cuts really won't have the impact everybody is saying they will, do you believe that? >> i want them to slap on an apron and start working with the people inned the field, seeing really what's happening in the communities. >> so i'll talk to you as a voter. somebody votes these people into office, right? i mean -- >> yeah, but i think it's still everyone's responsibility. i think both sides between this. >> i can't believe i said that.

>> so you blame the president and republicans. >> i blame everybody. >> a good way it go. thanks so much for getting in. and we'll get to dana bash subpoenas the press conference winds up. now to the weather. this is the deal one truck driver trapped on interstate 40, he was stranded for nine hours in what he calls the worst snowstorm he's ever seen. up to 20 inches from texas to illinois. in many places the misery is measureded in feet. winds are whipping up wicked snow drifts and even paralyzing emergency crews. in oklahoma, firefighters bogged down in a four foot drift and snowplow sent to free them got stuck, too. five time nascar champ jimmie johnson notches another big victory. the guy in the 48 joins us to talk to us about his daytona 500

win. plus we'll ask him about the impact of danica patrick's star power and of course fan safety.

down in a four foot drift and power and of course fan safety. . sometimes miracles get messy. so we use tide free. no perfumes or dyes for her delicate skin. brad. not it. not it. just kidding. that's our tide. what's yours? talk back is just about 20 minutes away. we're discussing three hot stories. one topic, yahoo!'s decision to make telecommuting workers come

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danica patrick may have gotten most of the pre-race publicity, but it was jimmie johnson who got the checkered flag, winning the race for the second time in his career and 400th sprint cup start. jimmie johnson is in new york and joins us now. congratulations. >> thank you.

>> so how does sunday's win rang against your other wins on the circuit? >> the daytona 500 is unlike any other race and my win in 2006 was before i had a championship and gave me a title of daytona 500 winner. and this win in general is like a championship and it's very special to me. a very big day for my sport. we debuted the car in fine fashion. danica did a great job and great racing. >> let's talk about danica. she was the first person to be interviewed and i kept thinking, i might beiffed if i'm jimmie johnson. >> no, no reason to be miffed. we have a great sport and i'm happy she's chosen to race in nascar and she's shown she's ve veriab

very comfortable for this style of racing. she had a legitimate shot to win and there are three more plate races through the year that i think she'll shine out. >> but you still want to beat her, right? >> i want to beat everybody. doesn't matter. >> exactly. i want to talk about the accident that happened. when you were driving in the race, were you aware that fans had been hurt in the stands? >> well, that accident was actually on saturday's race and i was sitting in my bus in the in-field and i heard the explosion. and then the television broadcast caught up to things and i saw what took place. and what a frightening moment. and there still are some people dealing with some serious injuries and i want to want them a speedy recovery, but our fans are very dedicated to our sport. they came and showed up for the daytona 500 and still sat in those eats. and i do know that nascar and the tracks will do everything in our power to keep the fans safe. >> what do you think should be done? >> well, to a certain degree, you have to be realistic about it here. cars are traveling at 200 miles

an hour and if they are thrown up into the catch fence, bad things can happen. there is a level of risk there. the catch fence kept the racecar from going into the grand stands, which is it job. we will learn from it and try to make it safer for the fans yet, but it is a freak accident. fortunately, everybody is doing better and hopefully going to recover fully from it. >> the way the accident happened, one car blocked a faster car and that started a chain reaction accident. should that type of blocking be banned from racing? >> no, the real truth of the matter is when we go to these big tracks, nascar as implemented a ton of safety measures to keep this from taking place. and the restricter plate was put on to keep the speeds down so the cars would not fly in the air. there was other contact that

took place that sent the car airborne. but we run in the big pack. it's what the fans want. the fans want for see the big crashes. unfortunately, car was put up into the air and the fence and put fans in harm's way. >> have you been able to talk to any injured fans? >> i personally haven't. i've reached out to nascar and asked how i could help support and he said just talk about everybody. fans are watching, some attended the race. i saw in of the injured were wearing my 48 attire. so i'm thankful that they're my fans and that they're all right. >> well, thanks for talking with us this morning. congratulations again. >> thank you. we'll be right back. max and penny kept our bookstore

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18 past the hour. time to check our top stories. egypt, the death toll is climbing after a harrowing crash of a hot air balloon. in all 18 people died when the tourist ride crashed near luxor. witnesses say the balloon somehow exploded and plunged nearly 1,000 feet to the ground.

somehow three people aboard the balloon managed to survive. these are images from christopher michael, he was in a nearby balloon when the tragedy unfolded. last hour he told us he heard the explosion and watched helplessly as it fell from the sky. you're looking at live pictures of the senate finance committee in washington. they're expected to vote in 15 minutes on the nom naination of jack lew for treasury secretary. he faced tough questions when republicans focused on his experience at citigroup. the u.s. census reportedly will stop using the word negro in it surveys. research shows most people no longer identify with that term and actually find it quite offensive. the bureau will use black or african american. gm will begin sending at&t wireless connections next year on most of its models. the deal ends a long

relationship gm had with verizon. michelle obama's toned arms were apparently a little too exposed during the oscars for an iranian news agency. so they photo shopped some sleeves on the first lady when she presented the oscar for best picture argo. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2% back on groceries. [ all ] 3% on gas. no hoops to jump through. i earn more cash back on the things i buy the most. [ woman ] it's as easy as... one! -two. -[ all ] three! [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

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two new numbers out on home prices. let's get to christine romans. >> the month of january saw new sale homes up almost 29% compared with a year ago. that's a good it number. that means at the beginning of the year people want to shell out the big bucks for a new home

were willing to do it. and the pace the fastest we've seen since 2008. most of us live in exiting homes. that's the big he her part of t market case-shiller index found home prices up 7%.g her part of market case-shiller index found home prices up 7%.her part of t market case-shiller index found home prices up 7%.er part of th market case-shiller index found home prices up 7%. i love charts. the last three bars really important. that shows the recovery in home prices. that means your biggest asset investment debt, whatever you want to call it, prices are recovering. it depends on where you live. in atlanta, very good year. in detroit, look at these places in the country, minneapolis up 12%, san francisco up 14%. this is year over year. vegas, phoenix, they had total collapses in home prices. now they're coming back. take a look at new york where i'm sitting. basically stayed steady last year. but you're seeing improvement in sales, in prices around the country. >> and just quickly, that means

good things for our economy, right? >> yeah, it means money is moving and this is one thing washington hasn't screwed up, i will say. they've had their hands off the housing market and the housing market starting to come back. fed is keeping interest rates low. interest rates are a real driver of this. fewer foreclosures. and fewer homes for sale in general mean that products coming on the market to use a very real estatey term, product comes on the market and goes on off very quickly if it's priced well. so there you go, some good news on housing. >> especially for those of us stuck with one that we couldn't sell. like me. >> this is your year, my dear. >> i hope so. thanks, christine. coming up next, our special talk back show, hot topics, hot conversation and of course your comments. who do you believe when it comes to forced spending cuts? need a tow or lock your keys in the car,

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women come elcome to talk b. who do you believe when it costs to forced budget cuts? john boehner had some choice and quite. >> caller:ful colorful words for the senate. dana bash was front and center. >> you know, at this point it is all about what they call here in washington messaging. and that's why this card was handed out to members of the house republican caulk cuss. going through some of the bullet points they think is the most powerful. not if these forced spending cuts go into effect, but when. and when it comes to messaging, as you said, the speaker did have colorfulful words for the senate. >> for 16 months, the president's been traveling all

over the country holding rallies instead of sitting down with senate leader in order to try to forge and agreement over there in order to move the bill. we have moved the bill in the house twice. we should not have to move a third bill before the senate gets off their ass and begins to do something. >> wow. when i first heard that, i said did he really say that? so i guess 9 next logical question, and i don't want to repeat the word, but is the senate getting off their did have duffs. >> well, they'll have movement. they'll have a vote on their plan which republicans reject because it has a mix of tax increases and other spending cuts. and what we're watching for today is what the senate republicans will have as their plan. our understanding is that they'll talk about some kind of measure to give the president

flexibility and how he has cuts. the question is whether it would be across board. if they give the presented flexibility across the world, they could lure some democrat its and change the way it goes down on friday. >> we have a couple most of days. we'll see. playing with us today, donna brazile, jason johnson, ross doufet, and amy cremer. thanks to all of you for being with us today. >> betwegood to be here. >> okay. donna, i'm going to start with you because you can sort of give us the democratic response to what john boehner said today, that the president is just playing politics, he's still campaigning, he's not sitting down with the senate, he's doing nothing to overt these forced spending cuts. >> well, first of all, mr.

boehner is just coming back from recess. he took a vacation. and right now on the day the sequester is supposed to happen on march 1st, mr. boehner is going to allow the congress, the house to go back home. so before he begins to spot off and use the but word, perhaps the house republicans need to sit down with the house democrats and hammer out a balanced plan. the senate will take up a balanced plan, balanced meaning cuts as well as revenues. we cannot simply cut our way out of this problem. we've already done more than $2.5 trillion. sign into law. it's time that we get serious about these problems, it's about kicking it down the road and come up with a plan that will grow the economy and so that the american people can feel comfortable and comment that the lawmakers are doing everything to put people back to work. >> the republicans say no more

tax hikes. we've been there, done it. but the president is not exactly talking about major reforms to entitlement programs. so it's just the same old stuff. >> yes, it's the cycle of sort of essentially pointless arguing in terms of what our long term fiscal picture looks like and the republican view is they listen to donna saying we've already had $1.5 trillion in cuts and they say, well, look, most of those were phantom cuts. cases where you would count the winding down of 9 war in afghanistan as cuts every though it was going to happen anyway. or the series of cuts that we had during the government shutdown debate a year ago. 9 "washington post" did an investigation and it turned out you had agencies counting programs they were already going to cancel and so on. so the republicans do have a point in that sense. the problem is that the republican strategy is basically they can't decide whether they want to take the sequester or

not. and whether they take it or not, it doesn't actually get them to where they should want to go, which is as you say entitlement reform. so it's not a winning proposition for the republicans even though i think they're right that a lot of the cuts the democrats have claimed to have made aren't that real. >> well, if you belong to the tea party part of the republican party, and correct me if i'm wrong, tea party republicans say go for the sequester. just go for it. >> i did do say go for it. it's only 2.3% what have we're spending this year. you cannot tell me that every department in washington, every department that is part of our federal government, cannot find 2.3% to cut when american families and businesses are having to cut back, washington should have to do the same. carol, $85 billion, which it's not even technically going to be $85 billion, but $85 billion is only 25% more than we just doled out for sandy relieve and only

47% of what we spent to bail out aig. the problem is washington thinks they can spend our money better than we can. washington doesn't have any money. they collect our money and spend it. there is no accountability. but you know what, it's all of their faults. just as donna said that john boehner just came back from a vacation, i mean, the president's been on vacation. he was in hawaii and then came back and then he went back to hawaii. he was in west palm beach golfing. they're all responsible and they need to rein in the spending. the fact of the matter is we cannot balance our u.s. budget by only cutting discretionary spending. we've got to look at entitlement reform. >> but these cuts are across the board. and i think, jason, that that's what's confusing the american public because they don't know whether to believe republicans on this point or democrats on this point. will the cuts mean devastating effects for everyone across the country? won't they? i think that's tragic. people really dn't understand

this. >> i think it's a shame. and here's the thing. i don't believe barack obama because he's the one who partially negotiated this idiotic deal two years ago, i certainly don't believe the republicans who refuse to pay attention to economic common says which says that you have to cut spending and raise revenues. the people who i believe are the government workers. the regular people out there about to lose their jobs because members of congress can't do their job. because everybody spesht the last year and a half campaigning trying to figure out who was going to be president rather than actually doing their job. so all the border patrol people who will lose their jobs, all the tsa people, i have a flight and i'm not look forward to this. all the school employees who already furloughed, they want this to get fixed. solutions are out there and neither side is serious about getting something done. >> can i say something real quick here? i just want to say, what is the most horrible thing about all of this is they've known 15 to 18 months that this was coming. these agencies should have had contingency plans in place in case it was not resolved and they didn't.

it's never good policy to do across the board cuts. >> well, the sequester was supposed to bring both sides together for a grand bargain and the super committee failed to do its job. sos it is true that both sides share some of the responsibility for fixing this problem, but you got to have one side of the table willing to negotiate and compromise. >> harry reid hasn't passed a budget in almost four years. >> can i just make a pitch for blaming the american people? >> sure, go ahead. >> just to wrap up, i mean, the reason that we have these divisions in washington in part is because the american people really, really, really want spending cuts right up until they see what the spending cuts actually are. and so it's not just that our politicians are letting us down, they're responsive to public opinion and public opinion likes fiscal discipline more in theory than in practice. >> we'll button up this segment

by -- >> maimi inblaming americans. >> no, we want to foe on to twitter and facebook. who do you believe when it comes to forced spending cuts? jackie says the bunl the nedget be cut and the cuts are a pittance. this from lee, it's time for republicans to admit they are obstructing. hoping to p hoping to put the blame on the president, but it's not working. next talk back question, is it wrong to end telecommuting? ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection.

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next up talk back question, is yahoo! wrong to end telecommuting? i'm sure you've heard, marissa mayor has ordered telecommuters back to the office. in a memo obtained by a tech blog, she write in his part to become the absolute best place to work, we need to be working side by side. that's why it's critical that we are all present in our offices. the thinking here, that the best ideas come from face to face conversations with your co-workers. but working moms and other yahoo! employees may think the switch to a cubicle from the comforts of home has little impact on their creativity and a great big impact on their attempts at a work/life balance. is yahoo! wrong to end telecommuting? i want to bring in professor

johnson and her husband, chuck d. they'll be talking about the trayvon martin segment, but i wanted to bring you in, because you have a baby, a 1-year-old. and telecommuting's probably pretty important to you. so do you think yahoo! is right to end telecommuting? >> no, i don't think they're right at all. it's interesting because now a days with the ad vent of new media, it's a whole different set of questions. is it better to be in an office side by sided som sided? probably better to be next to co-workers in terms of interpersonal relations, but in terms of not being able on to telecommute when you have a child, that's something that i think really privileges men because women, heterosexual women, don't have wives at home to help them with those children. >> do you agree with that, amy? >> well, look, i think the reason we're talking about this is because it's an internet company, a technology company, and you certainly wouldn't

expect this from a technology company. but look, they are a private business. the government is not involved. if it doesn't work, they can change it back. but i think through social media and technology, we have lost some of the interpersonal relationships and relationship building skills. and it sparks creativity when you're with your co-work he is and that's why companies do retreats and team building exercises and whatnot. so they may think that it's what's best for them right now. if it doesn't work, they can change it back. but april not really one to decide. >> well, i think that there are reports out there that some yahoo! employees were abusing the privilege and they weren't working as hard as one might expect from home. and that's really why the yahoo! boss called them back into the physical work space. >> right. and these kind of decisions obviously do have to vary from company to company and there are undoubtedly situations in which you end up with sort of telecommuting as a license to

sort of slack off and so on. with that being said, i'm a big fan of telecommuting. i think it's one of the great gifts that technology offers to working mothers, working fathers, working people of all kinds. and i also think yahoo! is a company that's having a difficult time and have had a difficult time for a while figuring out their identity in the marketplace. they're sort of having a legacy brand from the first wave of internet companies that has a big, you know -- a lot of resources because of that because doesn't know exactly what they're doing in the digital space. and this sort of seems like the kind of shake things up move that a ceo or coo tends to make when they don't know exactly what they're doing overall. so that would be the eyebrow i'd raise if i were yahoo! stockholder. >> in my business of virtual studio, if you had the same

philosophy in tune, you could be in three or four different parts of the country and actually get the job done. so it depends on your productivity. at the end of the day, your philosophy got to be in contact. but as far as the yahoo! ceo, that business is so expansive that it might be necessary to get everybody in the room to look at each other because they cover a lot of ground. in my business, it's really simple. let's do this, come together, think about this, and you could be in three or four different places across the world. so telecommuting is great. virtual office is all about what it's all. >> and jason, you're a professor. you teach young people. young people might be saying what is up with that. >> yahoo! wants to take them back to the day when this way popular, but we don't need to go back to 1997. first and foremost, it's an economic issue. this will disrupt a lot of abilities to get child care,

they have to change how their families are functioning. and gas is sometimes $5 a gallon in california. i think there's an economic impact to this decision that doesn't make any accepts. and the reason yahoo! has been burning through ceos is because everyone tries to come in and radically change the culture around and not pay attention to the employees they have. this is a bad idea and in six months they'll have to go back on it. >> more than 25% of our workforce perform their jobs telecommuting. this is a bad idea and i like x yahoo!. i would say once you see each other face to face, give even 00 oth a hug, we go back to the policy. have you been on the road lately some to get up in the morning and get on the highway these days and spend an hour and a half stuck in traffic i think tele commuting is a great idea and i hope more companies look forward to it. >> so what do our friends say?

is yahoo! wrong to end telecommuting? this is a fatal mistake by yahoo!. telecommuting gives us a great deal of flexibility and freedom. i would not be in the office 14 to 16 hours a day regularly. and this from jack, they sign your paycheck. if you want to stay home, start your own home business. until then, do what your boss tells you to do. next talk back question, trayvon martin, one year later. what have we learned? [ nurse ] i'm a hospice nurse. britta olsen is my patient. i spend long hours with her checking her heart rate, administering her medication, and just making her comfortable. one night britta told me about a tradition in denmark, "when a person dies," she said, "someone must open the window so the soul can depart." i smiled and squeezed her hand. "not tonight, britta. not tonight." [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere,

thank you, from johnson & johnson. [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, oh, hi thehey!ill. are you in town for another meeting? p, i brought my a-team. vo: business trips add up to family time. this is my family. this is joe. hi joe! hi there! vo: earn a ton of extra points with the double your hhonors promotion and feel the hamptonality.

talk back. trayvon martin respe, what have learned. one year ago today, two strangers meet. unarmed black teenager and a hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer patrolling with a gun. martin just 17 was killed. their families, of course, see things very differently. >> we just want to have the trial and let the jury decide and whatever decision comes out of that, we'll accept that. we may not like it, but we'll accept it. >> if your brother had not gone out with a gun that night, you must surely have said trayvon martin would still be alive. >> there is no telling what would have happened. we don't know if we would have been commemorating shortly the one year anniversary that george was another statistic, another person killed at the hands of his attacker. you can only slam someone's head violently into the concrete so many times. you can only break someone's nose and sit on them for so long

while they're screaming for help for over a minute before that person has to take some kind of action. >> even one year later, we the public remain polarized along racial and political lines on who was victim that night. trayvon mar tin one year later, what have we learned? first to chuck d. >> why are you going to come to me first? one had a gun. one didn't. and we're going on the the story that this man is telling everybody. so, i mean, bottom the line is this. back when i was growing up, you couldn't find a gun on anybody. since 1980, it's been nothing but guns and drugses in t in th community. nobody seems to give a clearance. and there's been an upswing of people in prison largely black males since that time. and nobody seems to give a

clearance. and when these things all come out, these are the side effects that come out of it. race is america's problem. so when you talk about an accident like this, it's just the sale old tired story over and over again. and it reared its ugly head once again. i've been seeing it the past 30 years. i've been going back and forth with this cat on twitter on how he thinks the case is just all wrong and everybody has got it all wrong. and talking about the head banging on the pavement. one person had a gun and one person didn't. one person's dead and the one we're relying on is the story that's told from the person that had the gun. i mean, stop. >> ross, what do you think? >> i think that we should have a trial and that it might be helpful for everybody commenting on this case to watch the trial unfold and see how the evidence

is presented and come to conclusions that might be somewhat more informed than the conclusions we've many baking for the past year on the basis of selective leaks from both sides. so one week you have something about a 911 tape, the next week you have a photo of zimmerman's bloody head and so on. i don't think we've learned that much from that case because i don't think there is that much to learn in the absence of the kind of trial by jury that is supposed to be the actual truth and fact finding mechanism. >> but chuck d earlier, and i'll spoez th pose this to jason, we had the o.j. trial. everybody knows pretty much that o.j. simpson is guilty of that, but that trial didn't prove much. >> or oscar pistorius. we all know what the situation is. i haven't learned anything in the last year. i've been reminded about how the lives of young black men are not necessarily considered to be as important. it has been amazing to me that trayvon martin's death was not rolleded into these larger

discussions about gun violence. because that's really what this is also about. the fact that george zimmerman had a gun, made it possible for him to make a stupid decision that cost a young man his life. it's the same issue that it took barack obama forever to start talking about young kids dying in chicago. this is a larger gun issue, it is a race issue, and america has still not learned anything and unfortunately, nothing will be learned after the trial because that young man will still be dead and his family will still be mourning and zimmerman and his family will still be running around on television trying to play the victim. >> amy, do you breyou agree? >> i think if anything we've learned that you shouldn't form your opinions off the sound bites that you hear in the media because we've had edited tapes be released that the network wanted to serve a purpose. you need to let the court system and the justice system work so that justice can be served. don't try this in the media. it doesn't work. yes, o.j. simpson, that's one trial. casey anthony is another one. but at the end of the day, i do think it's a bigger story like

jason just referred on to. and i think chicago is the perfect example. these kids in chicago, there is so much violence there. no one is really talking about it. we're starting to have that conversation, but it's a deeper issue. because there is no opportunity for these kids. they don't know what it's like to go out and work? >> no -- >> let me finish. the thing is the city itself is going bankrupt. there is no jobs in the private sector. and what do they do? they turn to gangs and selling drugs and we need to go in there, and i'm not saying government is the answer, we need to go in there and we can do it through private charity and citizen activism. >> wait a minute -- >> i want donna brazile to button this up for us. your thoughts. >> well, one year later, my heart still is heavy. an unarmed teenager should be able to walk freely in his or her neighborhood without the threat of violence. the stand your ground law should be repealed.

instead more states and localities are embracing that stupid concept. one year later, we have a family xwreefi grieving the loss of a young teenager and the another family trying to figure out what's the best defense for their loved one. i would hope that we would use this anniversary to talk about peace and nonviolence and how we take control of our neighborhoods, our communities, and re-establish ties where our young people. i have six nephews under the age of 15 and i just pray that they can walk safely in their neighborhood, not just today, but every day of their lives. >> i want to get some viewer responses in because this is quite interesting. from juan, we jump to conclusions in the country without first knowing the facts. and from another viewer, some wanted it to be about a black teenager for who no reason other than he was black was gunned down by a white man. and this, others believe the case is about -- i'm sorry, i'm

n not reading these quite right. teach our children well. this is a tragedy that we cannot correct except to let the police do its job and teach children the pitfalls of life. please keep the conversation going. i'd like to thiank all of or guests for joining us. we'll be right back. oh, hi there bill. hey! are you in town for another meeting? p, i brought my a-team. vo: business trips add up to family time. this is my family. this is joe. hi joe! hi there! vo: earn a ton of extra points with the double your hhonors promotion and feel the hamptonality. plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out